Visionary
by HungerGamesFan11
Summary: Lauren Oliver has just moved to a quaint beachside town, from her home state of Wisconsin. Plagued with strange dreams that cause her to faint, and her eyes to turn gold, she just wants to be ordinary again. When she meets Xavier though, everything changes radically again; leaving her with a destiny that's bigger than she ever imagined.
1. Chapter 1

"Hi." That's how it started. Isn't it funny how one word would soon bring the world has you knew it tumbling down? Well, that's what happened to me, and I'm still not terribly happy about it.

"Hi, you're the new girl, Lauren Oliver, right?" He came up to me, with those dazzling teeth I will never forget. They glimmered against his light hair, although his skin was oddly pale, even though he lived in a beachside town, and it was the end of August—almost. And then it was off to a new terror of mine, school. Ever since the 'wisdom visions' started coming, it was creepy. And not always as I suspected.

That's why my mom had brought me here. She felt as if I would never be normal again unless we moved someplace with sun. We left Wisconsin only a week ago, but I still ache for it. Pines was the one place I could hide my visions, because of the cold, and shadows everywhere. I could pull my covers up over my eyes and try not to notice the flickers of golden lights coming from my pupils as the ominous voice whispered in my ears; my heart pounding, and palms sweaty. The sun just makes it worse now.

"Yes," I smiled, trying to ignore the throbbing in my head, as another headache comes on, "and you are?"

"Xavier." He bent down to my perch on the yellow curb, so he can shake my hand. He's polite but now that I can see him closer, he looks like he's around 14, or 15, my age at least. "I'm in eighth grade this year—and you're in seventh?—and I'm sure we'll be the best of friends."

"Um, yeah." I nodded carefully.

"I'll see you around." Xavier let go of my hand, and turned to go. I stood and rushed into the house my mom now had officially bought, swerving around the corner, and into my room. Hitting the lightswitch, I feel light, pale, cold, hot, and wobbly, before I see it. The golden light right before I hit the bed and fainted…


	2. Chapter 2

I'm outside of my body now, peering at the sweat pouring down my white cheeks, and allured by my yellowing eyes. Then I see it; the jerks of my limbs as he appears, and begins the painful prophesy of today. 'Olives picked and sour, a new one sprouts, he who brings light shall also bring news. She wisely must choose between the mountain or Earth.' Then he shimmers, glowing even more bright than my eyes, if that was possible, and sends inflicting pain rippling through my soul; my entire being.

He is an ivory aura, sent with my annoying abnormality. Before he leaves today, he mutters in my ear a language I have never heard of; nor spoken. But I immediately pick it up, and decipher it. _**"May the gods bless you, child." **_ Then he laughs, a high-pitched squeaking noise that sounds like it's stuck in his throat, and his whole two-dimensional being fades into the air.

My aura begins to fade too, but much more slowly. It takes at least a few hours to even wake up from my dream state, but as soon as I sit up, I realize someone is sitting at the foot of the bed.

My mother.

"Lauren," she snarls, "get up. Get outside and actually _try _to be normal." I finally look up at her eyes, and look at the blue eyes I used to love, unlike my own thunder gray ones. They look like little pieces of hard candy, round and shaped like spheres. But they are not filled with love like they were a year ago; they're fiery, and angry, at my curse.

The curse that gave her a child that she thought was normal, but will never be. She wanted to fix it. Gave me medication. Took me to therapy. Dragged me to a strip of a beach town. But she was never sympathetic. Never, not anymore.

I end up pulling myself off of my sweaty, salty bedspread anyway. Not for her wishes, but for mine. Slipping my feet into a new pair of "gladiator" sandals I bought myself, I force a smile at my mother's glaring, jarring sharp eyes, and finally take off to the outside, into the hot sun, and succumb to my own curiosity of exploring. Maybe this town has something to offer in its own secrets.

But I doubt this one could hold mine. In response to my thoughts, my shoes rush off, my feet slapping the pavement in a hurry, trying to hold the secrets back, as if they were pooled beneath the soles of my shoes.


	3. Chapter 3

I somehow find my way from the sand-filled suburbs to the somewhat shaded back roads, and then turned into some kind of open area park, filled with a layer of sand and then just soft, velvety long grass, which tickled my ankles, as I waded through part of it, and just plopped down after a while. I stared up at the sun, a yellowish-orange, with just a hint of red. It didn't hurt to look at it after a while, until I heard, "Curiosity is what killed the cat. Why do you long to explore if you cannot reveal your own secrets?" I pulled my gaze toward the ground, my eyes suddenly stinging with third-degree pain.

"There's nothing wrong with secrecy, but with you, it might be hard to tell." He sat down next to me, legs crossed. When I peered at him out of the corner of my eye, I know his name. Xavier. His blonde hair fell down into his eyes, as he looked at the ground too, idly playing with his fingers. "What are you hiding?"  
"We both know I don't and won't answer that question." I retorted. "Did you follow me here?"  
Xavier, after a long pause, finally raised his arms in playfulness. "Guilty as charged. But you looked like you needed a friend."  
"Since when are you my friend? I just met you." I didn't really have any back in Wisconsin either; I burned all those bridges when I had the chance, a year ago, when the visions first came. I didn't really care after a while; the secrets and the pain were easier to handle then. The only person who cared in the end was my mother, and even that was in vain.

"Everyone needs, at least, someone, even an acquaintance. Consider that. See you tomorrow, Lauren Oliver." He got up abruptly, and quietly walked back to the entrance of the park. He had a steady, graceful walk, which I envied.  
Finally, without even realizing it, I opened my mouth, and said, "Goodbye, Xavier." I turned back to my sun, adding the first good thing to my mental list of pros and cons about this town—Myrtle Bay, they called it— I have a friend.


End file.
